Subverting Expectations
by BerryMerry
Summary: A collection of short stories about subverting expectations for the children in the Epilogue. Second story up! Scorpius centric
1. Chapter 1

Title: Subverting Expectations

Fandom: Harry Potter

Rating: K

Pairing: None

Summary: I decided to write a series of short stories about subverting expectations for the children in the Epilogue. This is the first one.

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The quiet sound of a spell whispered through the room, and the girl who cast it leaned forward and pouted at herself in the mirror, admiring the magically softened and red-stained lips that the spell had enhanced. With casual waves she cost the eleven other glamours that helped improve her appearance- from the spell that dealt with unruly little bits of hair, to the charm that made her already flawless skin shimmer with ever such a slight glow.

The spells turned her from a remarkably pretty girl, into absolutely gorgeous, and she gave herself one last satisfied look before turning to the bed behind her and sliding into the skirt and shirt laid out, and swirling her Hogwarts robes around her, noting with satisfaction that the black, made her pale skin even paler and her eyes even brighter.

With one last flick of her wand, she tightened the waist subtlety to show off her developing curves, and nonchalantly cast a Shrinking charm on her schoolbooks, a spell they weren't supposed to know yet, but that had proved rather handy. She didn't want a curved back after all from a heavy book-bag. That was _not_ attractive.

"Are you done yet?" asked the black haired girl who had just walked into the room impatiently.

"Absolutely," she replied softly. No point in exerting her voice, a sexy low purr was much better than a shrill, grating high pitched voice. "It's Charms first isn't it?"

Katie nodded, and they turned to leave the room together. "What did your parents say?" she asked curiously, knowing that the other girl's parents had demanded a Floo-conference to discuss her behaviour in school.

She rolled her eyes. "Exactly what she's been saying since first year. You'd have thought she'd have got tired of it after five years, and just accepted that I'm old enough to know what I want to do with my life. I don't want some backbreaking Ministry job, sorting through old papers, or ruining my hair wrestling dragons. But it's always the same thing with her. You don't work hard enough, you're not top of the class anymore, you date too many boys, you date girls. She told me that it was some form of a rebellion."

Katy snorted in frank amusement. "It's just you." She was rewarded with a savage grin.

"Mother doesn't seem to realise I'm perfectly intelligent, that I can do anything I want with my life, and that this is what I want to do. I want to have fun, meet attractive strangers and do something interesting with my life. She tells me I'm taking a step backwards for feminism, and I told her I didn't care. Now she's not talking to me. Apparently life's not worth living if you aren't bushy haired and top of the class."

"How did you get sorted into Ravenclaw again?" Katy asked wryly.

"I wasn't like this when I was eleven," Rose Weasley said drily.

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_I know it was pretty obvious it was Rose, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! _

_Reviews would be good. More children up soon_


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Subverting Expectations

Fandom: Harry Potter

Rating: T

Pairing: None

Summary: I decided to write a series of short stories about subverting expectations for the children in the Epilogue. This is the second one.

* * *

All he could think about was the cold numbing sensation of rejection that he had suffered on the train journey here, the curious glances thrown his way the snide comments made regarding hair colour, and always the overwhelming consensus. _'pure snake_.' The casual comment had become almost universally derogatory in meaning over the past twenty years, meaning as it did Slytherin, and everything attached to that house.

He'd expected it, since the day his father had first sat him down and had a proper grownup talk with him, about how he'd done some bad things in the past, but he was sorry for them, and sorry for the way that it would affect Scorpius. It was why he'd been brought up on the Continent, a few years in France, a few in Italy, one or two in Portugal, to keep him safe for a few years from the inevitable hatred that was going to cascade down on him.

There had been a lot of debating between Beauxbatons and Hogwarts- Durmstrang had not even been mentioned. Scorpius's French was easily up to standard, Beauxbatons would be less judgemental, and there would be distant relatives to ease the transition between home-life and school. On the other hand Hogwarts was more prestigious and undoubtedly provided the better education. Finally they'd asked him which he would prefer, and remembering his mother's bedtime stories of moving staircases, friendly ghosts and Great Halls he'd chosen Hogwarts.

Now he savagely wished he had chosen Beauxbatons where they did the sorting by alphabet.

Holding his head high, he let his gaze skirt over the other first years, most of their faces curious, some mocking, a few openly scornful. A pair of clear green eyes met his, and Scorpius was struck by the answering fear in them. The other boy was scared stiff. His eyes narrowed as he attached a name to that face- Albus Potter. What the hell did he have to be scared of? The memory of a similar boy with different colouring barging past him on the train, then turning with a cheerful apology on his lips, only to have it fade when he saw who exactly he'd knocked over, came to mind, and he curled his lip at the other boy. They judged him before they even knew him. Of course they would. They'd won.

He listened as the list of names got ever closer to M, then when Lovegood, Lysander had been sorted into Gryffindor, his name rang out- Malfoy, Scorpius. He set his jaw and pretended not to hear the muttering. With his face as stoic as he could make it- much like Father's was when the Ministry checked his wand every month, he picked up the shamelessly battered object and placed it on his head.

Even though he'd heard all about this from mother and father it was still a shock to hear the disembodied voice that suddenly became audible to his newly sensitized ears. It was neither encouraging nor unkind, simply neutral.

"Another Malfoy. One a generation you lot, oooh stretching back a very long way. And nearly all of you in Slytherin as well. But you're here now, and this _does _prove to be an interesting year. Very complex indeed. You hate them do you? That's a dangerous emotion boy. Hate brought Voldemort nothing but ruination . Besides what have they done to you yet?

"_Nothing_", he thought back silently. "_Yet. But they will."_

"So you want to go where you can be protected until you achieve your goals do you? Where you will be nurtured from the chalice of guile, and where you will grow strong? You're clever my boy, and you're brave, you're sly and you're loyal. But this kind of fervent hate? There is only one place for you." The hat opened its tattered brim wide.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

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Reviews... would be nice

Any questions as to why Gryffindor- just review/PM and I'll answer


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